


Basement Shadows

by Amydiddle



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dark Sides, Gen, Maybe - Freeform, Not part of the Growing Up Universe anymore, Sanders Sides - Freeform, The Others - Freeform, Young!Sides, a mystery is a foot, baby sides, thomas sanders - Freeform, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-13 09:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13567782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amydiddle/pseuds/Amydiddle
Summary: Virgil has known about the weird darkness that lurks in the basement. He has always been too scared to investigate but with more teenage rebellion in him, he feels he needs to start asking questions.The very fact that a monster laid on the other side had kept him away for years. Kept him from questioning the door with the handle on it. He swore he would never go back to them yet…Here he was.





	1. The Locked Door

**Author's Note:**

> This is moved from my tumblr.
> 
> The idea that Logic and Morality were 'Learning and Heart' and also that the sides are locked up in rooms but there developing slowly comes from an amazing fic by FrickinGwaine called "Learning for the Heart". I loved the idea a lot and adopted it into my own HCs.

The voices had been there since Anxiety had first stepped out of his door into the world that he would later know as the mind palace. 

During the years he had stayed hidden from the three that lived above the dark basement he had only been able to ignore them by locking himself away back in his small room. They would not follow him very far up the stairs when he went on a kitchen raid. 

They only seemed to get louder when he neared the few doors that were not the closets that held forgotten memories. 

Anxiety had only gone close to them once, back when he had gotten a spur of courage after he was first ‘born’. He never wanted to repeat that experience after he could have sworn he saw a slitted pupil peaking out at him from the other side of the key hole. 

He had not even comprehended there was a locked handle on the door until the day after he had investigated. The very fact that a monster laid on the other side had kept him away for years. Kept him from questioning the door with the handle on it.

He swore he would never go back to them yet…

Here he was.

Now a mighty sixteen, no longer the scared middle school her had been, he wanted to know why Patton was so set on keeping him up out of his dark domain. 

In all evidence that Logan had presented him, Thomas’ base personality traits had now been created. There should not been more locked doors down here. 

Every time he brought them up Logan and Patton would change the subject or push him onto Roman. 

It just did not make any sense. He barely asked questions so why were they so set on not telling him anything about the secret to  _HIS_  basement. 

“They can’t be avoiding anything. That would be silly.”

Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a response to his thoughts; apparently he had been musing out loud. He resisted his natural urge to run and looked at the rusted handle on the door. 

“W-who are you?” 

“A talking door,” Came the sarcastic reply. 

The voice sounded like all the other sides that lived in Thomas’ mind yet hat its own flair. Virgil had to frown at the sarcastic answer; too much like Roman’s showiness only without the warmth. 

“You are not really good at this answer game,” he tried to say bravely but it was hard to do when he was conversing with an unknown threat. “I just want the truth.”

“And the truth is something so easy to get,” the voice behind the door chuckled, “It is not like I would have a reason to trust a person that is from the surface.” 

“I am not though,” Anxiety was not sure when he had moved closer to the door. His fingers brushes the handle before he pulled back. “I came from down here…in the basement.” 

There was shifting from behind the door; Anxiety could have sworn he heard more voices. 

“You…you claim to be one of us?” Said a voice; Anxiety was not sure if it was the same voice that he had been talking to or if it was a new person. 

“Um…” Anxiety frowned; he did not understand what the voice meant. “I don’t…I mean, I come from down here if that is what you mean.” 

“You are free, though,” The voice said confused, “How did you avoid the tyranny of the one up above?” 

‘T-tyranny?” Anxiety’s voice cracked in nervousness. He did not understand. “Who are you?” 

“Friends,” the way the other said the word made Anxiety believe it was the first voice he had been speaking to. “Ones that are like you. Not good traits for Thomas to have, but traits none the less.” 

Anxiety’s heart pounded at the idea that somehow these sides were older then him. That somehow there had been other sides from the basement level of the mind palace before he had come and those had been locked up by one of those from the surface level. 

The ones that claimed he was family but now he was not too sure. 

“You do not want to help us, do you? You do not think we are worth it,” the voice behind the door said. 

“I…never said that,” Virgil rubbed his thumb nervously over a patch inside his hoodie. “I just don’t…did you say ‘we’?” 

The voice ignored the question. “You cannot help.” 

“I can help!” 

The voice sighed and seemed to be moving away from the door. “No you cannot. The door has been locked for so long I doubt that you could even find the key.”

“Hey!” Anxiety balled his fists up and glared at the door. “I can find that key, unlike you I am not locked behind a door. They trust me.” 

“Prove it.”

The statement shook Anxiety to his core. He was not sure who to trust anymore but he was not going to let some mysterious voice tell him what he could and could not do. 

The teenager did not say a word as he ran for the stairs; he did not even peak out into the main room before he exited the basement and walked into the main area of the mind palace. His body instantly freezing when he saw the top of Patton’s head. 

_Someone on the surface had locked them away. Could it have been Heart?_

The very thought shook Anxiety to his core as he tried to sneak past the side, happy when he heard the gentle snore leave the oldest trait. 

_Would they lock him away when they realized just how bad he is?_

There was only one way to find out and it was somewhere up here. 

_If I was a key…where would I be?_


	2. Snake in the Grass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is moved from my tumblr.
> 
> The idea that Logic and Morality were 'Learning and Heart' and also that the sides are locked up in rooms but there developing slowly comes from an amazing fic by FrickinGwaine called "Learning for the Heart". I loved the idea a lot and adopted it into my own HCs.

The door to the upper world closed and all was silent in the basement of the mind palace. The voices on the other side of the door seemed to hold their breath as they waited for the slight chance that the anxious side may return if he realized the true plot. 

A minute passed before they were sure it was safe. 

A minute passed before the deadly silent in the basement was filled with the soft sound of a key entering a lock and then door slowly being pushed open.

* * *

 

Anxiety admitted to himself that he should have thought this over as soon as he stepped into the kitchen. 

He had no idea what he was looking for. He had no idea why he would trust mysterious voices and he was unsure on if the other sides would even dare lock away beings like them. 

If they did why did they continually let him wander around. 

**_They like to toy with you._ **

**_They are just luring you into a fake sense of security.  
You know that I am right._ **

Virgil grit his teeth and slammed the last drawer in the kitchen closed a little harder then needed but the sound did help drive the wayward thoughts away. 

Logic had been attempting to teach him tactics to let the thoughts harmlessly float by but it was difficult when Anxiety had a combination of his own thoughts and Thomas’. Of course, Thomas’ were very focused on why he wasn’t finding any girls attractive at the moment. 

Very distracting and not the point of his current mission but Virgil had to express his annoyance and be grateful that Thomas’ worries helped a little. 

This distraction still was not powerful enough for him to not be very aware of what was happening around him. The snores of Patton still came from the living room and he could hear the muffled sound of Roman singing his heart out behind a door, despite the teenage speak. The only one not accounted for was-

“Is something wrong, Anxiety?” 

Anxiety jumped a foot in the air when the logical side suddenly appeared. His hand clutching at the over sized hoodie as he looked at the other with wide eyes. 

“Don’t. Do. That,” the teenager hissed and tried to regain control over his breathing. “Since when do you just appear, huh? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Logic tilted his head to the side. “My apologies, I did not realize you were so far lost inside your head or I would have announced myself when I came into the room.” 

Logan moved past the youngest side and started to look for a mug in the cabinets, his movements slow and decisive. A little too planned out for Anxiety’s liking but he could not tell what was off about the other. He just knew something was. 

“Something is wrong,” Anxiety mumbled and looked around. Maybe it was not Logan. Was Thomas anxious about something?

Logan set down a mug on the counter and started to grab a spoon from the drawer. 

“What do you mean?” 

Anxiety looked back at Logic just as he began to make some tea. 

“I just...something feels off, ya’ know?” 

“You are going to have to be more specific,” Logic replied with a frown. “If you cannot identify the problem then how am I supposed to help solve it?”

Anxiety shifted nervously. He was getting such a weird vibe from this room and this was his best lead on where the key to the door might be. Now, with Logan here and the feeling taking over the space, he just wanted to get out. 

“I don’t know, okay?” Virgil knew he was tapping into Thomas’ teen angst with that statement but he needed to get his point across. “There is just something wrong. Like...like something is off. I just...I can’t...” 

The best way Virgil could express the feeling was through a frustrated growl. 

“I think you are picking up on something external,” Logan looked down at his tea. “Maybe you should have some tea.” 

Virgil gave another frustrated growl and left the room. He would continue the search in the kitchen later.

* * *

 

Logic watched Anxiety go calmly, his face shading by his hair and the mug. As soon as the teen’s back was out of sight of the doorway the side set down the mug and turned around. 

In the junk drawer he carefully placed something, though he made sure it was buried slightly in the pens. 

With that job down he grabbed his mug and moved out of the kitchen.

* * *

 

Anxiety’s next guess on where the key might be would be Logan’s room but with the odd feeling he got from the side he wanted to stay as far away from that area of the mind as possible. 

So he took to the next idea, which happened to be carefully move Morality so he was laying on the couch and cover him up with the sofa’s throw blanket. Being close to Heart did make some of the nervous energy leave the poor side. 

Anxiety still could not help the natural tensing when he caught Logic leaving the kitchen and heading down the hallway again. The weird feeling in Virgil’s gut just made him nervous. 

Was it possible that Logan could know what he had been up to inside the kitchen?

**_He is on to you.  
As soon as you unlock the door he will be there to push you in._ **

**_They have been waiting for you to find them out. Now they have a reason to get rid of you._ **

“Anxiety?” 

The darker side jumped for the second time that day and looked back at the eldest on the couch.

Patton’s eyes were open halfway and his glasses pushed up onto his messy bed head. He looked exhausted but that is the normal state of all of them seeing as teenagers have terrible sleep schedules. 

“Uh, yeah?” Anxiety tried to ignore how his voice cracked from his nervousness. 

Patton moved a hand out from under the blanket and made grabby hands at the youngest side. Anxiety tried to act like he did not want to give into the silent command even though a smile was pulling up the corners of his mouth. 

“You okay, kiddo?” 

 _Does Patton have a sixth sense?_ Anxiety shook the worried thought off and tried to shrug off the question. 

“I’m fine. Thomas is just thinking too much again.”

The lie came out of his mouth easily and he could feel his palm begin to sweat against Patton’s. The gaze that the moral side had locked on him was like a laser. One wrong mood and his truth would spill. 

“If you are sure,” Patton said slowly and rubbed the back of Virgil’s hand with his thumb. “Just know I am here to talk to if you ever need anything.”

The familial affection almost made Virgil spill. Almost. 

“Do you need anything? I can get you some water or something.” 

Excellent derailing of the conversation. 

Patton looked the youngest over one more time before letting go of the hand and snuggling under the blanket so only his nose was showing. 

“A cookie and milk would be nice.” Virgil could hear the smile in his voice. 

Anxiety nodded and moved back into the kitchen as fast as he dared to not look like he had wanted to run. Lying was bad; lying to Morality was worse. 

He could feel the panic rising up in him as he entered the kitchen once more. His fingers fumbling a little with the plastic cups as he moved to prepare Patton’s snack. 

_Why didn’t I just tell him? Patton would never lie to me so I could get the answers about the door._

**_He is going to hate you when he finds out. Look at you, being a terrible person._ **

Anxiety came back to reality when the milk spilled over the rim of the cup and onto his hand. A curse word slipping from his mouth silently as he looked at the mess on the counter. 

Then his eyes moved to the semi-open drawer. 

Spilled milk forgotten he opened it up curiously and his eyes widened at the sight of an old key barely hidden under the pens. How he never noticed it before was beyond him but there was no mistaking it. The design on the key matched the door handle down in his basement. 

Answers, good or bad, were right at his finger tips. All he had to do was give Patton his snack and he could-.

“Oh shiitake mushrooms the milk!” 

Virgil scrambled to get some paper towels to clean up the mess he had nearly forgotten about. 

“Everything alright in there?” 

Virgil looked over his shoulder though he knew Patton could not see him. He did not want the other to see the key even if it meant he may get some kind of answer to this problem. 

**_Or a punishment. Like being locked up._ **

“Y-yeah! Everything is fine. Just spilled some milk.” 

“You butter not be crying over it,” Patton chuckled from the other room. 

Anxiety let a weak smile appear on his face from the joke and finished preparing the snack for the eldest side. He moved a little too fast leaving the kitchen and some milk splashed from the cup before he could set it down on the coffee table. 

“Oh dang it...” 

“It is alright, bud,” Patton patted Virgil’s arm, “I got it. How about you go get a movie and we can watch it together.”

“Actually, I think I am going to take a nap,” Anxiety said the lie slowly. He did not want to crush that hopeful look on the other’s face but he really needed to get back downstairs before he lost the nerve. “See if it helps clear my head.” 

“Alright,” Patton frowned and then put a smile back on his face. “I love you, kiddo. Ya’ know that?” 

Anxiety looked at Patton and Morality stared right back. A serious look in his eyes to show that he was not tricking the other. 

“I know,” Anxiety mumbled, “You say it every day.” 

“And I mean it,” Morality poked at the other’s chest. “You all are my family and I love you. No problem is too large that we can’t fight.” 

Anxiety snorted, “You are starting to sound like Prince.” 

“Or does Princey sound like me?” Morality raised his eyebrows and winked which won another stifled laugh. 

“Have a good nap, Anxiety.” 

Anxiety could only nod as he shuffled away from the couch and towards the basement door.

* * *

 

The key slid into the lock easily and it turned with a soft click. 

The teen’s hands shook as he pulled it out; too scared to open the door himself. Too scared to know what he had unleashed. 

He did not open the door, it opened itself. A rush of cold wind made him shiver despite being in a warm hoodie. The poor side could not help but jump when it suddenly was slammed closed and another teen stood in front of him. 

A yellow eye peered at him curiously from behind messy hair and then a smirk appeared. 

“Hello there. It’s truly a dishonor to meet you.”

“W-who are you?” 

The new teen smirked and came further into the dim light, showing the double sided face. 

“I wasn’t called trickery once, but you may not call me deceit.”

“What?”

The smirk fell and the teen sighed in annoyance. 

“Look, it is hard to figure out but I do not speak in lies all the time. Do not take what I am saying as what I really mean. You don’t get it?” 

Anxiety stared at Trickery, or Deceit, confused and then slowly nodded. This was going to be confusing. 

It also was a bad idea to let this side back out. 

“Terrible,” Deceit said when he saw the nod and looked up at the stairs. “I should probably go up there and not explain anything to you.” 

The two-faced teen put an arm around Anxiety and led him to the couch in the middle of the room. 

“Now, what do you not want to know?”


End file.
